


I'm Not a Princess (The Fairytale Remix)

by lls_mutant



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-02
Updated: 2010-05-02
Packaged: 2017-10-09 06:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lls_mutant/pseuds/lls_mutant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felix Gaeta had a bad habit of falling in love with people who screw him over.  But there was someone he loved that actually loved him back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Not a Princess (The Fairytale Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Gaeta Through Hera's Eyes](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/579) by lorrainemarker. 



> Hera probably talks older than a three year old, especially at the beginning of the story. However, it's my experience that she draws a heck of a lot more advanced than a three year old, so I'm going with the idea that she's a little advanced because she's a hybrid.

"I don't like princesses."

Hera stood in the middle of the Agathon quarters, her arms crossed and her chin thrust out. Felix hesitated on the threshhold.

"Excuse me?" he asked, barely able to take it in.

"I don't like princesses," Hera informed him again.

"Hera." Athena's voice was sharp. "Try it again, please. Nicer."

Hera glared at her mother, and then looked back at Felix. "I don't like princesses, _please._"

"All right." Felix still wasn't certain what this was about. He looked at Athena, who was still brushing her hair. "Help?"

"Dee babysat her last time," Athena explained. "And she suggested they play princesses."

"It didn't go well?" Felix asked, confused. "I thought all little girls liked princesses."

"Felix, do all little boys like battlestars?"

"Can't see how they wouldn't," Felix said. "Battlestars are _awesome_."

"So are Raptors," Hera announced.

"Raptors _are_ awesome," Felix agreed.

Hera considered him, and then went over to where a few ragged tech manuals and books lay on a table. She rifled through them, and then returned, dragging a thick, worn book full of technical diagrams. "Read," she ordered.

"Hera!" Athena's voice was warning.

"Read, _please._"

Athena glanced at what Hera was presenting Felix with. "Hera! That takes all night!"

"Perfect," Felix said, before Hera could answer. "Seriously, Sharon. I only said yes because Helo won the hand of triad and I was out of cubits. I have no _clue_ what to do with a kid. If I can sit here and read to her all night, so much the better."

Athena sighed. "You're going to regret it," she warned.

"We'll be fine," Felix insisted. "Go meet Helo. I'll get her to bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Athena, she's a three year old. I will be _fine_."

"All right." Athena hesitated, but the pull of a night with her husband- as well as Dee and Lee- was almost visible on her.

"Go," Felix laughed. "We'll be _fine._"

"If you need us-"

"_Go._"

With one final kiss on Hera's cheek, Athena fled the room. Felix chuckled as she left, and then picked up the manual that Hera was holding out. "All right, Moppet," he told her, settling down in a chair. "Let's read about Raptors."

***

"'A hydraulic kid includes a pair of hollow rods, a reservoir of oil and a pump, all concealed within the body of the Raptor. Good flying!'" Felix set the manual down and sighed. "That only used up a half hour?" he asked incredulously.

Hera looked up at him. "Read again?"

"No. Let's find something else to read."

Hera agreeably slid off his lap and padded over to the table where her books were. She studied them, and then picked up another book. Looking at the shape of it, Felix groaned. "Don't tell me that's a Viper manual."

"Vipers," Hera agreed. "I like Vipers."

Felix took the manual from her and groaned. But Hera just snuggled back in between him and the chair, clutching a ragged stuffed turtle to her and opening the manual for him. "Read." There was a pause, and she reconsidered. "Read, _please_."

Felix sighed. "All right. 'Congratulations on your purchase of a new Mark Seven Viper! We are confident that you will enjoy the smooth maneuverability and the impressive firepower.'"

Hera sighed contentedly.

***

"Read more," Hera said, when Felix had finally finished reading about the finer points of Vipers.

A hasty look at the clock revealed that there was still another half and hour before bedtime. "All right," Felix said, because he had no idea what else to suggest to Hera. "What shall we read?"

"Hmmm." Hera's nose scrunched up as she thought, and then she smiled. "Raptors!"

"No," Felix groaned. "We just read that one."

"Vipers?"

"No more ships, okay?"

Hera looked around. "I'm CAG," she decided. "You're a pilot."

"I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Drop and give me fifty."

Felix arched an eyebrow at the little tyrant. "Fifty _what_?"

Hera hesitated. "Fifty… _please_?"

Felix stifled a laugh. "No. What am I giving you fifty of?"

"Oh." Hera considered that. "Fifty… Raptors?"

"I don't know that they'd all fit in here."

"Oh." She thought for a minute. "Fifty stories?"

"Stories?" Felix mused, and then the idea hit. "Do you want me to tell you a story? One that I make up?"

Hera's eyes widened. "You can make up stories?" she asked.

"Sure," Felix said. He slid down out of the chair and sat down on the floor. "Once upon a time, there was a princess-"

"No!" Hera yelled. "I don't like princesses!"

Felix rolled his eyes. "I _know_ that. Now wait and here what I'm going to tell you. There was this _evil_ princess."

"Oh." Hera nodded. "Evil princesses are okay."

"Thought so. There was an evil princess, and she ruled the land with an iron fist. The princess was mean- she wouldn't let the Raptors fly and she wouldn't let the Vipers fly and she made everyone eat carrots all the time."

"I don't like carrots," Hera informed him.

"Me either," Felix agreed. "So the princess-"

"What was her name?"

"Her name?" Felix fumbled for a minute. "Baltarina. Yes. Baltarina. She had long dark hair that she didn't wash much, and although she was very pretty, she was also very mean and very lazy, and she had to have everything her own way. She made the people slave for her, not paying them and not feeding them, until they nearly broke."

"She's not nice."

"No, she's not. Now, Baltarina had a prisoner, a very handsome young man named Felix." Hera giggled, and Felix grinned. "Baltarina kept Felix prisoner, even though he longed to be free of her. But no matter how he tried, Felix couldn't get away. Baltarina was too strong for him.

"But there was someone who loved Felix - his…" he thought frantically, and then decided, "niece. Felix had a niece, a smart, special girl whom Baltarina feared because she was the shape of things to come. Her name was Hera, and she was a Raptor pilot. But she wasn't a regular Raptor pilot," he added. "She was a _magic_ Raptor pilot."

Hera's eyes lit up. "I like this story!" she said.

"I do, too." Felix grinned at her. "Now, Hera had something very special… a magic wand. The wand would do her bidding, and hers alone. One night, after Hera had learned of her uncle's imprisonment, she began to form a plan…."

The walls of the Agathon family quarters melted away, and Felix and Hera became lost in a world of dragons and Raptors, magic wands and evil princesses, and an adventure that involved magical explosions, rainbows, winged turtles, and duels that would shame the best of the Viper pilots. In the end, Hera took her Uncle Felix to get his own magic wand, and the two of them continued on their quest to save the world from the evil princess Baltarina. By the end, they were both running around the quarters, markers in hand to serve as wands, casting spells on various objects in the room and shrieking with laughter.

When Helo and Athena came home that night from Joe's, they found Hera unwashed, teeth not brushed, and in one of Helo's shirts and a paper hat, asleep against Felix, who had a red marker line down one cheek and was wearing paper shackles, and was sound asleep himself.

Needless to say, Felix Gaeta became one of Hera Agathon's all-time favorite babysitters.

***

"Uncle Felix?" Hera looked up from her drawing of a curly-haired stick man and a curly-haired stick girl, both holding wands.

"Yes, Moppet?" Felix's own attempts weren't much better. He scowled at the paper.

"Are fairytales real?"

"No. They're just stories. Why do you ask?"

"Mommy says that sometimes they're real."

"Really? Your mom says that?" Felix was surprised. Athena didn't seem like the type that would lie to a child. "Like, magic and dragons?"

"Not magic and dragons. But the kisses." Hera made a face.

"The kisses, huh?" Felix had a feeling they were headed into dangerous territory. "What brought this on?"

"I saw Mommy and Daddy kissing," she said. "And they did something weird with their tongues."

"Oh."

"And Mommy said that kissing was special, and that sometimes it really is like fairy tales and kissing fixes things."

Felix felt like he was rapidly losing control of the conversation. "Kissing fixes things?"

"Mommy said that Daddy kissed her and she woke up like a princess."

"But you don't like princesses."

"No." Hera picked up a crayon again and continued work on her masterpiece. "But kisses make it better when I get hurt."

"Ah." Felix nodded sagely. "That's true."

"Do you kiss?"

Felix stared down at his drawing, and thought about the kisses he'd had recently. There had been kisses from Gaius; kisses that he'd craved and treasured, kisses that had held him prisoner because he couldn't break free from them. There had been kisses from the Eight; long, slow kisses that he firmly regulated to the darkest recesses of his memory, never understanding that relationship and aware that he didn't want to examine it too closely.

"Sometimes," he told Hera. "Not much these days."

"Does it make things better?"

"No," he said flatly. "For me, it made things worse."

"Oh. Did they put you to sleep?"

"Something like that. Hey, I really like the turtle you're putting in your picture!"

Successfully distracted, Hera beamed at him. And then looked down at her side, where her stuffed turtle usually sat. Her eyes widened when she realized that she wasn't there.

"Uncle Felix, where's Miss Kitty?"

"Uh-oh." Felix stood up and began looking around. "Where did you leave her?"

"Find Miss Kitty!" Hera wailed. "I need Miss Kitty! She's sad without me!"

"Calm down," Felix said. He checked Hera's bed, then Helo and Sharon's, and then the chairs, Hera whimpering the entire time. He eventually found Miss Kitty (one day, he _would_ ask about the name) shoved under the chair. He gave her back to Hera, tickling her cheek with Miss Kitty's matted fur. "There," he said. "All better."

Hera held the turtle up to him. "Kiss Miss Kitty and make her better?"

Better from what, Felix didn't know, but he obediently kissed the stuffed animal. And for good measure, he leaned down and kissed Hera on the cheek, too. "That better?"

Hera nodded. "Mommy's right," she said. "Kisses do make things better."

"Sometimes they do," Felix agreed, and sat back down to color some more.

***

Sometimes kisses _did_ make things better, and Felix found that out after Adama let him out of the brig for stabbing Baltar, and Louis Hoshi greeted him with an enthusiastic kiss before retreating back into embarrassed neck rubbing. Felix had been half-hoping, half reminding himself he didn't rate nice things about that one for a while, so Louis's embarrassment didn't last long, and Felix found himself walking on air for a few days. But kisses (and other resultant activities) just made things better rather than fixing everything, and after the euphoria settled and they became just another couple, life returned to normal.

Louis often got stuck working on Felix's off-shift, which left Felix open for babysitting duty. Helo said he felt guilty taking advantage of Felix so often, but Felix noticed that didn't stop him and Athena. Not that he minded, given he didn't have much to do when Louis was working. And besides, he adored Hera.

"Hey, Moppet," he said, walking in as Helo finished reading Hera her Raptors "book." "What are we going to do tonight?"

"Can I rescue you from Princess Baltarina again?" Hera asked eagerly.

"Sure."

Helo put the book down and looked at Felix. "I've been meaning to ask you about that," he said. "_Princess Baltarina?_"

"Well, I-"

"Seriously, Gaeta. _Baltarina?_ You're not very subtle, do you know that?"

"I know." Felix winced. "Is it a problem?"

"No. But if she says something in front of Baltar, I'm blaming you."

"Go for it." Felix envisioned it, and sighed. "He'll just take it as a compliment anyway."

"Probably," Helo agreed. He set Hera down and kissed her forehead. "Be good for Uncle Felix, okay? We won't be too long."

"We'll be fine," Felix said. "As long as I've got Hera to protect me, that is."

"Cute," Helo said. "Thanks, Felix. I'll owe you."

"I'll add it to my bill," Felix joked. Helo laughed and headed out the door, and Hera turned to Felix.

"I'm going to rescue you," she announced.

"Sounds good."

However, today the rescue game just didn't hold either of their interests, and before he knew it, Felix found himself sitting on the floor, with Hera playing with his hair. He closed his eyes, not even wanting to think about what she might be doing.

"Uncle Felix?" Hera asked as her brush tangled in his curls.

"Yeah?" he answered, trying not to wince.

"Can I marry you?"

"Marry me?"

"Mommy said when Daddy kissed her and woke her up, they fell in love and got married."

"Oh." Felix thought about that. "I don't know that you'd like that, Hera. I'm a lot older than you."

"That's okay."

"From your perspective, maybe," he muttered. Hera was intent on her work in his hair, and she didn't seem to hear him.

"If I rescue you, I should marry you. Right? That's how all the stories go."

"Well, they shouldn't," Felix said. "I'm your uncle." Well, that was a good a description as any. "Besides, girls can rescue boys and boys can rescue girls without getting married. They don't even have to _like_ each other. But there's value in life."

"Oh." Hera fumbled around for something, and then began tugging on his hair again. "Have you rescued anybody, Uncle Felix?"

"I'm a soldier on _Galactica_," he said, because that was easier than trying to figure it out. Hera pushed his head forward, and he obeyed, dropping his head into folded arms that he rested on his drawn-up knees. In his mind, he could see New Caprica again. He was walking down the street, through the mud, and he heard laughter. Familiar laughter… and when he turned his head, he saw Heather Redman, lifting a baby above her head.

The laughter became real, and Felix jerked his head back up with a start. Helo and Athena were standing in the hatch, and they were both laughing. "What?" Felix laughed, still shaken from Hera's question.

"You," Athena giggled. "You have a lot more guts than I ever gave you credit for, Gaeta."

"I think Hoshi needs to see this," Helo agreed. "You'd be getting sex for sure tonight."

"What's sex?" Hera asked.

Felix smirked and stood up. His legs wobbled precariously, and he caught himself against Athena, who was still laughing. "I think that's my cue to leave," he said. "I'll let you two field that one."

"Wimp!" Helo shouted after him. Felix laughed, but as the hatch closed behind him, the laughter faded.

_Have you rescued anybody?_ Hera had asked him. Felix thought about going to the Memorial Hall, but decided against it. After all, he'd never been the one to rescue anyone. He just made it possible for other people to fight the battles and swing the swords.

With a heavy sigh, he checked his watch. He still had four hours before Louis got off duty, and no real way to fill them.

He unbuttoned the collar of his jacket and decided to head for Joe's.

***

"Uncle Felix?" Hera's voice was small and sad.

"Yes, Moppet?"

"Did Starbuck really go to see the gods?"

Felix bit his lip, and then sighed. "Is that what your daddy told you?" he asked. Hera nodded. "Well, then. Would your daddy lie?"

"No."

"Good girl." It wasn't a question that Felix wanted to answer, for any number of reasons. He sat down, exhausted, and ever so grateful to have an excuse not to be out at Starbuck's wake. Dee had snapped the free shift in the CIC up first, and he'd let her take it. After all, she was the one person that Felix thought deserved her hatred of Starbuck more than he did.

He sat down on the chair, and Hera clambered up in his lap, holding Miss Kitty close. The somberness was actually affecting her, which surprised Felix. Helo and Athena were usually careful to keep the worst of what was going on from Hera.

"Uncle Felix?"

"Yes?"

"In the story. When Hera rescues her uncle, does anybody die?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"If she fights people, somebody has to die."

"That's logical."

Hera leaned her head against his shoulder. "When you rescue people, do people have to die?"

"No." Felix laid his cheek against her hair. "Not always."

"Good. Because I want to rescue people, but I don't want people to die."

"Yeah. Me too." He stroked her hair for a long moment. "Do you want me to tell you the story again today?" he asked, although his heart wasn't really in it.

Hera shook her head. "Let's just read about Raptors instead."

"Sounds good."

Hera got her book and settled on Felix's lap again, and Felix opened it up and began to read. The monotonous text and the sound of his own voice soothed him, as did the steady rhythm of Hera breathing. He wasn't necessarily devastated at Starbuck's loss, but it had unnerved him, and Hera's presence spread a peace over him that he didn't think he would find.

***

It took every ounce of self-control that Felix possessed not to slam the hatch behind him as he entered the Agathon quarters. Sharon came over and hugged him, and Helo eyed him sympathetically. But Helo was in another world, Felix thought bitterly. What did he care that Gaius Baltar had been acquitted when he had his best friend back? Frak knew there were plenty of other people not coming back from the dead, and Gaius had put them there.

"Uncle Felix, Daddy said you might tell me more about the evil princess Baltarina tonight," Hera said.

"Oh, I've got stories about the evil Baltarina," Felix said, lighting up with an unholy glee. Do you want me to tell you about how Felix tried to escape from Baltarina, but how she thwarted him? Or how he did his best to tell everyone what Baltarina had done, but the judges ignored him and decided to let Baltarina go on a technicality?"

"Felix," Helo growled warningly, "she's three."

"Maybe it would be better if you two played something else tonight," Athena put in smoothly. "How about you style Uncle Felix's hair again?"

"Or finger paint?" Helo suggested. "I've got some nice, bright finger paints here that you two can play with."

"Finger painting," Hera decided.

"I could have told the story," Felix muttered.

"And you did," Athena said back. "I know. But Hera doesn't need to hear the version you'd give her tonight. Where's Hoshi, anyway?"

"Stuck on comm," Felix sighed. "Another two hours yet."

"Well, we'll be back before then." Athena shot a forced smile, and then kissed Hera on the forehead. She hesitated, and then kissed Felix on the forehead, too. This close, he could smell her. She smelled a lot like his Eight, but with an overtone of grease and tylium and leather. He liked how Athena smelled much better.

The door clanged shut behind the Agathons.

Hera was happily engrossed in her finger painting. "Do I call Hoshi 'Uncle Lou'?" she asked.

"What?"

"Daddy says that you're getting married."

"He told you that?"

"No. He told Mommy. He said that if God is willing, Hoshi will hit you over the head and drag you off and marry you, because for once you found someone nice. But it doesn't sound nice to have him hit you over the head."

"No." Felix was a little alarmed at the discussion of his love life that was apparently taking place in the Agathon family quarters.

"Mommy says you should marry Dee. I think Mommy's right."

"She's not," Felix said weakly.

"That's what Daddy said. He said you're gay. Uncle Felix, what's 'gay'?"

"It means I kiss boys."

"Oh. Is Mommy gay?"

"No. Your mommy would be gay if she kissed girls."

"But I'm a girl," Hera argued.

"Next time, they should put you on the stand instead of that frakking prosecutor," Felix muttered. "You'd have them all scratching their heads."

"Is that good?" Hera wondered.

"Very good."

"Oh." Hera painted in silence for a little while. Then, "Do you kiss lots of boys? Or just Hoshi?"

"Just Hoshi right now. Why?"

"Because Narcho watches you lots and lots," Hera said.

"He does, huh?"

"Mommy said it, too. And Daddy said that Hoshi had better move fast, or you'd go for…" Hera's face screwed up in concentration as she thought, "yet another asshole that sucks you dry. What does that mean?"

"Your dad's just being silly," Felix said idly. Narcho was watching him, huh? Now _that_ was interesting. Felix didn't think that it had anything to do with attraction - he happened to know that Narcho was pretty serious with one of the Marines. But he also happened to know how much Narcho hated Baltar, and how frustrated Narcho had been with Adama's preferential treatment (he winced even as he thought it, but it _was_ true) of Starbuck.

Maybe he'd have a drink with Narcho once Helo and Athena came back. Buoyed by that thought, Felix pulled a piece of paper towards him and began to finger paint with Hera.

***

Felix wasn't happy about this mission, and he was even less happy about leaving at the dead of the night. Louis walked with him down to the hangar bay, daring the wrath of whatever brass caught them. Because, as he put it, "they can't exactly put me in the brig with you gone and expect to figure out which is their ass and which is their elbow."

"You have such a high opinion of _Galactica_ standards," Felix teased, privately agreeing.

Louis laughed, and kissed him goodbye gently. The kiss was just getting really good when someone pulled on Felix's jacket. He broke the kiss and turned, ready to ream out whoever thought interrupting was a good idea. The angry words died on his lips as Hera looked up at him, her big eyes filled with tears.

"You're going, too, Uncle Felix?"

"I am." He looked at the Raptor where people were boarding to head over to the Ship of Fools. "But your mommy's staying, isn't she?" Hera shook her head, and Felix swore inwardly. What the frak? But it wasn't his business, and he knew this was one he couldn't meddle in. "Well," he said awkwardly "it won't be long."

Hera sniffed.

Felix glanced at Louis, whose mouth was working in a way that implied he was trying to hide whatever his true expression was. He glared at him for a second, and then knelt down and hugged Hera. "It will be okay, Moppet," he said softly in her ear. "We'll be back."

Hera's arms were tight around his neck. "I know."

"So don't cry, and behave, and I'll keep your mommy and daddy safe, all right? I'll protect them."

"And you'll rescue them?"

"If they need rescuing, I'll rescue them," Felix promised her.

"Here." Hera thrust a stick into Felix's hand. "Take your wand, so you can fight off Baltarina."

"Okay." He took the stick.

"And kiss Miss Kitty," Hera demanded, holding up the matted stuffed turtle. Felix obeyed.

"Hera." The daycare minder who must be watching Hera called her. "Come give your mommy and daddy one more hug." Hera gave Felix one more tearful glance, and then scampered off.

"Baltarina?" Louis asked.

"It's a long story," Felix said. "You don't want to know."

"Actually," Louis said, his eyes fixed on Felix's face, his expression tender, "I think I do. Come back to me so you can tell it, will you?"

"I will," Felix promised.

He kept a smile on his face for both Louis and Hera as he stepped on the Raptor, waving and blowing kisses- the latter mostly to Hera, but one or two managed to find themselves wafting in Louis's direction. He sat down across from Helo and Athena. Athena was looking drawn and resolute, focused on the star charts she had in her lap, and Helo was still watching out the open door, catching every last second he could.

Felix understood exactly how he felt.

***

There was bitterness deep in his soul, and it had torn open the minute they pronounced Baltar not guilty. Felix knew that, and he had hoped that it would heal a little on their two month Voyage of Insanity. But all the damn trip did was make him surer of what he believed, especially when his leg shattered from the force of a bullet.

He rode back to _Galactica_ in a morpha induced haze, and he thought that things couldn't get much worse.

He was wrong. He was so incredibly wrong.

***

Louis's face floated before Felix's eyes, unsure and grieving. He looked away, because he couldn't bear to see it. Adama's brief words were in his ears, chasing him further down that well of black bitterness as he spoke of alliance and his need for Felix in the CIC. He heard that there were Cylons in the halls, and not just the ones they expected. Saul Tigh, Galen Tyrol, Tory Foster, and Sam Anders. And yet, he could have dealt with all that, if it wasn't for the desolation that was Earth, and the loss of Dee.

And Felix began to die.

Louis couldn't reach him anymore. Not really, although he tried. But loving Louis was hard and messy, with the memories of Gaius and the Eight and everything that had been lost and everything that had broken. And Dee couldn't reach him anymore, either, because she was beyond all this. And Helo wouldn't look him in the eye, Athena was caught up with the alliance, and everyone he'd ever loved had no idea what to say to him.

Except Hera.

Helo had kept Hera away from Felix, worried that she'd try to hug him and jar the stump, or that her questions would upset them both. Felix knew that, and he resented the hell out of it. So the night after Dee's funeral, he made his way to the Agathon quarters and knocked.

Helo answered the door.

"God, Felix! Come on in and sit down before you fall down! Why didn't you call? I would have come to you."

"I wanted to see Hera," Felix ground out, not looking at Helo.

Hera was playing with Miss Kitty. When she saw him, she jumped up and came running over, although Helo caught her. "Wait for Uncle Felix to sit," he told her.

Felix didn't want to admit he was grateful, but he was, especially as he eased off his crutches and into the chair. Hera lit up again, and approached cautiously. "Can I hug you, Uncle Felix?" she asked.

"I wish you would," Felix told her. He patted his good leg, and Hera clambered up. The motions of her little body against his _hurt_, but so did everything else these days, and nothing was as good as the feeling of her arms around his neck.

She looked down, and touched his thigh. "Bad owie?" she asked, cautiously, glancing at her father for permission.

"Very bad owie," Felix said. He looked at Helo, trying to send the message telepathically. _Go away. Leave us alone. Please. I need this._

Miraculously, Helo got it. He stood up, murmuring something about cleaning, and disappeared into the head. Felix was sure he'd chosen there so he could hear what was going on and make sure that Hera didn't overtire him, but he didn't care. Now that Helo was gone, he could wrap his arms around Hera easily and hold her. His cheek was wet, and she patted it gently.

"No crying," she told him sternly. "Soldiers don't cry. That's what Mommy says. I know what you need."

"You do?" he asked bitterly.

Hera smiled at him brilliantly and slid off his lap. "You need a kiss," she told him. "Kisses make everything better. That's what Mommy says. I'll kiss it better."

"Hera, you know my leg won't come back."

Hera shrugged. "But it makes it better," she insisted. "That's what Mommy says." She kissed his leg, and then climbed back up. "Can you tell me our story again?"

Felix forced a smile. "I can. Once upon a time, there was an evil princess named Baltarina. She was a very evil princess, and she ruled the people and made them slave for her. One day…" Hera sighed in contentment and snuggled up against him. In minutes, she was asleep.

Minutes after, Felix followed.

***

Once upon a time…

_Once upon a time, there _was_ an evil princess. She was a beautiful princess, and she could cast spells, spells of hope and desperation. And there was an evil prince, who did rule his people badly. And there was a prisoner named Felix._

But the prince and the princess weren't the ones who kept Felix prisoner, although he thought they were. That was something he did himself, guarded by his own bitterness and despair. He couldn't see it, because those demons were well and truly earned, but they were there.

And then, the smart, special girl named Hera, who was indeed the shape of things to come, battled her way past the demons and kissed Felix. And her kiss saved him.

It didn't work so simply- it never really does. But that kiss changed the world for Felix Gaeta, because Helo was standing in a doorway, watching his daughter kiss his friend. And he watched them curl up together and fall asleep. And while Hera couldn't really change Felix's life, Helo could, and would, because he realized how much "Uncle Felix" meant to his daughter.

So this is what happens.

Felix Gaeta still gets aboard Raptor 718, and it still goes missing. But when Louis Hoshi tries to find someone to care, he happens on Helo and Athena long before he manages to convince Saul Tigh. And Helo, remembering how Felix held his daughter, gets through his own guilt and shouts down Tigh and Adama, and he, Athena, and Hoshi board a Raptor and charge off, like knights on a white horse.

They aren't in time to save the first Eight, and they don't save Brooks or Shark or Easy. But while Helo and Hoshi are pulling Felix out of the Raptor, Athena accesses her sister's memories. She sees the lists, she sees the deception, and she kills her sister Eight for it.

The alliance is not ended, and the anger still simmers in so many people. But because of what they did for him, Felix doesn't lock up Helo and Athena and Hera. He leaves them free, and they end the mutiny before it can go too far. Felix is arrested, of course, and put in the brig, because the bloodshed is not what it would have been if Helo and Athena had been captured. Felix is alone down there, with Louis lost and hurt, and Athena and Helo feeling much the same. But he is alive.

Eventually, Boomer takes Hera. And when he hears it, Felix is the first to step over that line, to charge in and save her. He helps Sam Anders find the coordinates, and he even lays aside his differences with Starbuck to work out a plan. And they rescue Hera, and Baltar brings her into the CIC. And when she sees Felix in the CIC with Cavil pointing a gun at him, Hera goes running to him, because she has to rescue him. Cavil is distracted long enough to be disarmed, and Hera grins, because she succeeded.

They find the new planet, the new Earth. And because once again, it means so much to Hera, and because Felix went to rescue her without a second thought, Helo lays down his anger and goes to talk to him, and they begin to build their friendship up again. It takes Athena a little longer, but eventually, she does the same.

It takes Louis Hoshi longest of all. He doesn't understand how Felix could shut him out, and he's hurt that the man he loved did something he can't fathom. But one day, Hera tells the man she now does call Uncle Lou about what she saw in her mommy's mind, and about the Eight and the lists and Mommy killing her. Hera doesn't know what she's doing, but Louis understands. And he thinks that maybe it's time to find out what Felix has to say, and what his reasons were. And when he does, he finds out that Felix still loves him, even if he'd given up hope of this day ever coming.

Felix still sees Hera, and they still tell their story, and they still act it out, although it's harder on Felix than it used to be. Eventually Hera comes to realize she didn't rescue Felix in the CIC, but Felix helped to rescue her. She doesn't say anything about it, but Felix knows because a new villain appears in their story- the evil Prince Cavil, and Uncle Felix saves Hera from him. The story changes and it grows, but the core of it always stays the same.

And one day, when Hera Agathon is six years old, she stands between her parents as they witness the marriage of Felix Gaeta and Louis Hoshi. She holds her parents' hands and smiles, and she tells Felix that their story needs a new ending, because she never got to rescue him - Uncle Lou did that.

For a long moment, Felix can't speak. He looks at Helo, and at Athena, and at Louis, and then at this life that he has on this beautiful planet, and tears clog his throat. And when he can talk again, he tells her that their story ends exactly right. Because when he thinks what might have happened to him without Hera and Helo and Athena, and what he might have become, Felix knows the truth. He was a prisoner, and Hera Agathon was the one who rescued him, no matter what the history books will say.

And they all lived happily ever after.


End file.
